Beur FM is a French local

radio station Radio broadcasting is the broadcasting of audio (sound), sometimes with related metadata, by radio waves to radio receivers belonging to a public audience. In terrestrial radio broadcasting the radio waves are broadcast by a land-based rad ...

catering mainly to France's Maghrebi communities including:

Algerians Algerians () are the citizens and nationals of the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria. The majority of the country's population is composed of Arabs who make up 85% of the population, and there is a Berber minority of 15%. The term also ...

Moroccans Moroccans () are the Moroccan nationality law, citizens and nationals of the Morocco, Kingdom of Morocco. The country's population is predominantly composed of Arabs and Berbers (Amazigh). The term also applies more broadly to any people who ...

and

Tunisians Tunisians () are the citizens and nationals of Tunisia in North Africa, who speak Tunisian Arabic and share a common Tunisian culture and identity. In addition to the approximately 12 million residents in Tunisia, a Tunisian diaspora has been ...

.TeleObs: Beur FM : “Nous sommes la France”
Beur FM broadcasts in three languages:

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

(60% of the time),

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

, including

Maghrebi Arabic Maghrebi Arabic, often known as ''ad-Dārija'' to differentiate it from Literary Arabic, is a vernacular Arabic dialect continuum spoken in the Maghreb. It includes the Moroccan, Algerian, Tunisian, Libyan, Hassaniya and Saharan Arabic di ...

(20% of the time), and

Berber Berber or Berbers may refer to: Ethnic group * Berbers, an ethnic group native to Northern Africa * Berber languages, a family of Afro-Asiatic languages Places * Berber, Sudan, a town on the Nile People with the surname * Ady Berber (1913–196 ...

(20% of the time).

Name

The station was launched in 1981 as "Radio Beur", later renamed "Beur FM". The word is the

Verlan The verlan word "pineco" comes from "copine". () is a type of argot in the French language, featuring inversion of syllables in a word, and is common in slang and youth language. It rests on a long French tradition of transposing syllables of in ...

form of .

History

It is the first and the most prominent maghrébine community station in France. Around 1989, the independent radio station started broadcasting on a licensed frequency. The station was established by Algerian-French Nacer Kettane in Paris. Kettane had been a prominent figure in the "beur movement" in the 1980s and 1990s and already had media interests by launching the monthly ''Sans frontière'' (meaning Without borders).Egalité et reconciliation Beur FM vendue à Serge Dassault
/ref> It broadcast on 98.2

MHz The hertz (symbol: Hz) is the unit of frequency in the International System of Units (SI), often described as being equivalent to one event (or cycle) per second. The hertz is an SI derived unit whose formal expression in terms of SI base u ...

. In 1992 the Parisian station changed its frequency, to broadcast on 106.7

. Later in the 1990s, Beur FM started broadcasting nationally, and presently it broadcasts on 18 frequencies in France and has a large and diversified listenership. Beur FM broadcasts 24 hours a day and its main frequency is FM 106.7 MHz for

Île-de-France The Île-de-France (; ; ) is the most populous of the eighteen regions of France, with an official estimated population of 12,271,794 residents on 1 January 2023. Centered on the capital Paris, it is located in the north-central part of the cou ...

region in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Beur FM also became part of the GIE

Les Indés Radios Les Indés Radio is a groupement d'intérêt économique (Economic Interest Grouping) created in 1992, and currently composed of 125 local radio stations in France. History In November 1992, the GIE Les Indépendants (The Independents) was cr ...

. The station has acquired around 20 frequencies. It has an audience of around 1% of the listeners in Ile-de-France. 2019 figures showed the station was improving further on its audience levels. Although it primarily addresses Frances North African communities, the station also wants to enlarge its listenership base by actively addressing audiences outside the North African communities.Bondy Blog: Beur FM : pas seulement pour les « beurs »
Kettane sold his shares to

Serge Dassault Serge Dassault (; born Serge Paul André Bloch; 4 April 1925 – 28 May 2018) was a French engineer, businessman and politician. He was the chairman and chief executive officer of Dassault Group, and a conservative politician. According to ...

in July 2014. In April 2003,

Beur TV Beur TV is a French television station mostly addressed to France's Maghrebi communities (Algerians, Moroccans and Tunisians). It is broadcast through cable and offered on ADSL. The community-based television station was licensed through th ...

was created, which was a television version based on Beur FM. Beur TV partnered with

Maghreb The Maghreb (; ), also known as the Arab Maghreb () and Northwest Africa, is the western part of the Arab world. The region comprises western and central North Africa, including Algeria, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, and Tunisia. The Maghreb al ...

TV stations

ENTV Public Establishment of Television (, ), abbreviated as EPTV, is a state-owned company that manages the activity of television in Algeria, going from production to broadcasting. It is the oldest broadcasting service in the country. It curren ...

(

Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...

SNRT The National Company of Radio and Television (, SNRT) is the public state-owned broadcaster of Morocco. History The broadcaster was formerly known as Radio-Maroc, then Moroccan Radio and Television (, RTM) from 1956 and from 1961. It was one o ...

and

2M TV 2M is a Moroccan free-to-air television network. It was established by the royal-owned conglomerate, ONA, before being sold to, in part, the Moroccan government. Of 2M, 45.3% is owned by Bank of Africa, while approximately 32.5% by the Moro ...

(

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

) and ERTT (

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

). Abdelkrim Branine, is the chief editor of its new section. In May 2015, the French periodical ''

Marianne Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed i ...

'' citing its programme "Les Zinformés" accused the station of being pro-islamist. The station refuted the allegations. The radio publicly says it is a secular radio station. The station popularized the term "Beur" for North Africans in France although the term is considered somewhat pejorative and restrictive in some circles. Beur FM has also released a number of Oriental and North African based music albums like ''Generation Beur FM'' (2001), ''Rai 4 Ever'' (2010) and ''Beur FM présente Oriental Clubbing'' (2012) amongst others. The station has also established a literary award, "Le Prix littéraire Beur FM Méditerranée" in collaboration with TV 5 Monde.ActualLitte: Sofia Aouine, Prix Beur FM Méditerranée - TV5Monde 2020

References

External links

* {{Coord missing, France Arabic-language mass media in France Arabic-language radio stations Berbers in France Berber-language mass media Radio broadcasting companies of France North African diaspora in Paris Radio stations established in 1989

Name

History

See also

References

External links